Jepson Herbarium
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Annual to woody per; roots generally fibrous.
Stem: generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid.
Leaf: alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear, parallel-veined; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base.
Inflorescence: various (of generally many spikelets).
Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets ( lemma, palea, flower) 1–many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally ± transparent, ± enclosed by lemma.
Flower: generally bisexual, minute; perianth vestigial; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose.
Fruit: grain (rarely achene-like).
650–900 genera; ± 10550 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials). [Barkworth et al. 2003 FNANM:25; Barkworth et al. 2007 FNANM:24] Generally wind-pollinated. Achnatherum, Ampelodesmos, Hesperostipa, Nassella, Piptatherum, Piptochaetium, Ptilagrostis moved to Stipa; Elytrigia, Leymus, Pascopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Taeniatherum to Elymus; Hierochloe to Anthoxanthum; Lolium, Vulpia to Festuca; Lycurus to Muhlenbergia; Monanthochloe to Distichlis; Pleuraphis to Hilaria; Rhynchelytrum to Melinis. The following taxa (in genera not included here), recorded in CA from historical collections or reported in literature, are extirpated, lacking vouchers, or not considered naturalized: Acrachne racemosa (Roth) Ohwi, Allolepis texana (Vasey) Soderstr. & H.F. Decker, Amphibromus nervosus (Hook. f.) Baill., Axonopus affinis Chase, Axonopus fissifolius (Raddi) Kuhlm., Coix lacryma-jobi L., Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt., Dinebra retroflexa (Vahl) Panz., Eremochloa ciliaris (L.) Merr., Eustachys distichophylla (Lag.) Nees, Gaudinia fragilis (L.) P. Beauv., Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Neyraudia arundinacea (L.) Henrard, Phyllostachys aurea Rivière & C. Rivière, Phyllostachys bambusoides Siebold & Zuccarini, Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) Clayton, Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt.) Branner & Coville, Schizachyrium cirratum (Hack.) Wooton & Standl., Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Themeda quadrivalvis (L.) Kuntze, Thysanolaena latifolia (Hornem.) Honda, Tribolium obliterum (Hemsl.) Renvoize, Zea mays L., Zizania palustris L. var. interior (Fassett) Dore, Zoysia japonica Steud. Paspalum pubiflorum E. Fourn., Paspalum quadrifarium Lam., are now reported for s CA (J Bot Res Inst Texas 4:761–770). See Glossary p. 30 for illustrations of general family characteristics. —Scientific Editors: James P. Smith, Jr., J. Travis Columbus, Dieter H. Wilken.
Unabridged references: [Hitchcock 1951 Manual grasses US, USDA Misc Publ 200; Clayton & Renvoise 1986 Kew Bull Add Series 13]

Key to Poaceae

Annual to perennial herb, cespitose, occasionally from short rhizomes.
Stem: decumbent to erect, generally abruptly bent at base; nodes glabrous or pubescent.
Leaf: sheath glabrous or hairy; ligules translucent; auricles present or 0; blade flat or ± rolled.
Inflorescence: spike-like, dense; axis breaking apart at nodes at maturity (except in Hordeum vulgare); spikelets 2-ranked, strongly overlapping, 3 per node (central + 2 lateral).
Central spikelet: bisexual, generally sessile; with 1 stalked or sessile floret; glumes awn-like, generally > floret; lemma awned.
Lateral spikelet: sterile or staminate ( bisexual in Hordeum vulgare), generally short-stalked; floret 1, sessile; glumes awn-like, > floret, lemma generally awned.
32 species: temperate worldwide except Australia. (Latin: ancient name for barley) [von Bothmer et al. 2007 FNANM 24:241–252] As treated here, including Critesion. Hybridizes with Elymus to produce ×Elyhordeum species. Source of edible grains, sugar, ornamental, and weeds; enzymes from sprouts used in beer-making. Lemma or floret measurements do not include awns. Hordeum pusillum Nutt. has been reported for Ventura and San Diego cos., but it does not appear to be naturalized.
Unabridged references: [Baum & Bailey 1990 Canad J Bot 68:2433–2442]

Perennial.
Stem: 2–9.5 dm, loosely to densely tufted; nodes glabrous.
Leaf: sheath glabrous to densely hairy; auricles 0; blade < 19 cm, 1.5–9 mm wide, glabrous or hairy.
Inflorescence: 3–10 cm, green to ± purple, fully exserted at maturity.
Central spikelet: glumes 7–19 mm, bristle-like, generally straight with age, base flat; lemma 5.5–10 mm, glabrous.
Lateral spikelet: staminate; glumes 6.5–19 mm, bristle-like, straight or spreading with age, lower glume occasionally flat at base; lemma < 7 mm or vestigial, awn < 7.5 mm or 0; anthers 0.9–5.5 mm. [Online Interchange]

Stem: 3–9.5 dm, generally robust.
Leaf: sheath generally glabrous; blade < 19 cm, <= 9 mm wide, glabrous or sparsely short-hairy.
Central spikelet: glumes 7–17 mm, generally straight with age; lemma awn < 6 mm; anthers 1–3.5 mm.
2n=28,42. Meadows, pastures, streambanks; < 3400 m. California (except Desert);

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].

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Bioregions in which taxon occurs	Red area (if present) is the part of the bioregion lying between the upper and lower elevation limits of the taxon; markers link to CCH specimen records. If the markers are obscured, reload the page [or change window size and reload]. Yellow markers indicate records that may have georeferencing or identification issues.
Chart based on elevation range in Manual and elevations and coordinates of CCH records. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. Note: About half of the CCH records include both elevation and coordinates.	Map made in collaboration with Scott Loarie. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. View all CCH records   CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa. Blue line denotes Manual flowering time.